A Silver lining in the Darkness...

My Blackberry had been trying to get my attention with its blinking red LED before it finally went out of power. "There goes my connection to the world!", I remember thinking; and indeed it was true! Without a computer or any sort of internet connection, the phone was my gateway to the world, and suddenly I felt all alone.
No, this isn't something I experienced while travelling through the high reaches of the Himalayas or through the deserts of Sahara. This was experienced in the comfort of my house in the capital of India, when a power grid failure left almost 18 states powerless for about 20 hours in 2 days. Power backups last only so long before they also die out, and for busy professionals (or for pseudo busy student like me!) the hours without power seem daunting!Technology has seeped in so deeply with our lives that we realize its importance only when we do not get access to it. Seemingly easy works became a huge task for me without power and without any gadgets to use; and thus began a series of many "firsts" for me.

For the first time in a very long time, I could see nature in its purest form (or as pure as it can get in polluted Delhi!) The chirping of the birds combined with the gentle drip drop of the rain, produce a music so peaceful that I couldn't help but wonder why hadn't I ever noticed it before. Without the computer,internet or a TV for entertainment, I got once again carried into the charm of reading books, and not the e-books, the actual, paperback versions of novels I loved. The yellowed old pages seemed so familiar and welcoming, like home. As I sat down to write this article on a piece of paper; my fingers missed the strokes on the keyboard and I half expected the red wriggly line to appear every time I wrote a word whose spelling I wasn't too sure of.....yes that is an alarming (or maybe comical?) situation, I realize that!
With all that, this was the first time in months I got to spend some time with only myself for company, and it wasn't so bad! True, power failures like these cause a great inconvenience and chaos in general, but they also give an opportunity for people to spend some "me" time. So, maybe, it isn't all bad !


  

Happy Father's Day

Father’s Day- An American concept, celebrated with equal gusto in India. It was probably started as a male egoistic issue (if they can have a Mother’s Day, why not one for us too?!); but today it stands much larger than that. It stands for the celebration and recognition of the one man in your life who continuously sacrifices his present just to secure your future; and does so without any complaints on the way. His dream is not to see himself on the top of the world, rather his children, when he can prouldly say – “That’s MY child up there!”

It is said not a thousand fathers can replace a single mother, but doesn’t the same hold true for fathers as well? Can anyone ever replace a father? The feeling of safety when you’re with him; the feeling that everything will be alright; that nothing can ever go wrong as long as your father is there.  Your father may not always express his love, may scold you sometimes, may make fun of you, but that’s what makes him your dad! Without him, you wouldn’t have anyone to conspire against your mother, no one to share secrets, no one to joke and goof around with.

When I think about my father, I realize that all of the things I’ve written above have been written with him in mind. He is the one person I know I can always rely on, regardless of the situation. I know he will always sacrifice his own needs just to complete my wish, and for that I respect him. He’s the pillar of patience, and rarely, if ever, he gets angry with you, you must know it is completely your own fault.  In the family he’s the ever smiling one, the one who always cracks jokes (and laughs loudly at  them while we wait with a straight face for him to finish) to lighten us up.

My father has a deep wish that his two daughters go for a walking spree at unearthly hours (for us, not for him maybe!) and/or go with him wearing red top and black jeans.  While the “walk at unearthly hours” is not going to be possible in the near future, I can promise to go somewhere with him wearing that red top-black jeans combo (he surprisingly has a good dressing sense when it comes to his daughters, thank God for that!)

Pa, please know that while we’re always fighting with you , we love you a lot!

(With inputs from the Elder Sis)

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY PAPA!!! 

Twelve days of...Driving!

Every day, as I wake up early and go sleepily to learn driving, one phrase comes in my mind every day, invariably– courtesy the advertisement for Ceat tyres- “the streets are filled with idiots!”. The ad very rightly shows cars having to stop suddenly when a person comes on the road from apparently nowhere; and the vehicle having Ceat tyres, is able to stop suddenly within inches of the ‘idiot’ and prevents the accident from happening. And indeed, this is true! The streets of Delhi are undoubtedly filed with idiots. And no, my “almost sleepy” state has nothing to do with this, for once behind the wheel, I am quite wide awake!

First of all, there seems to be an unspoken rule of “mode of transport, no bar” on the so called ‘main roads’. So, from cars to buses to autorickshaws to two wheelers- you name it, it’ll be there! Half of the roads are blocked by the parked cars nearby the residential areas. And then there are the fruit sellers with their carts, all on the same road. Now all of this wouldn’t be a problem if people were intelligent enough to move in their lanes , and save everybody the trouble. No, the autorickshaws have to move on the right side, obviously very slow ,and the buses will suddenly in sweep from the right  to stop at a bus stop on the left, when you are purposefully driving on the left side to stay out of trouble. That’s not all, while the bus comes and you are suddenly forced to brake, there will be children/ women/women with children who will glare at you for the narrow escape they had! But aren’t they supposed to follow the “look left, look right, look left again, then cross the road” rule? Or  is that rule not applicable anymore?  And as though this is not enough, the drivers of two wheelers think that they own the road just because they can squirm through any amount of space. So there you are at a turn, watching intently right and left before turning, very nervous, when a bike zooms past you. Now if you were moving, there would surely been an accident, and of course the person in the car is at fault. Before you recover  from the shock of the ‘almost accident’,  the cars behind you start blaring impatiently and you are forced to make a move quickly, or else bear the wrath of the angry Delhite. For a novice driver like me, the daily driving lesson is very scary, for I am in the constant fear of running over someone and it may not even be my fault! Nevertheless, each day I learn a new lesson, and vow to never become like the idiots I encounter daily on the roads...and if I ever see myself transforming into one, well... there come in the Ceat tyres to save me from the accidents!